"Wood-firing
is like a volcano," says Ken Turner, who speaks of ceramics as an
almost sacred art. "It re-creates what happens on the earth." Several
times a year, Turner a local ceramist and instructor at the Bellevue Community
College and Burien's Mosier Arts Center, travels to Sumner to "visit"
a rare wood-fire kiln that he and a fellow potter Michael McCullough built themselves. There, they
sit in vigil, stoking the fires for three days straight.

The
41-year-old artist, who was introduced to ceramics by Regnor Reinholdsten a teacher at Sammamish
High School and has been involved with the Pacific Northwest Arts & Crafts
Fair as both an exhibitor and juror for 10 years, is better-known locally for
his more refined gold, platinum, and copper decorated work. But his
explanation of the wood-firing method, his latest interest, engages his
listeners: Stoking the fires for three days raises the kiln's temperature to the
appropriate 2,400 degrees Fahrenheit, causing the wood to emit ash. The ash then
chemically combines with the silica in the clay pots and melts to form a natural
glaze on the surface. The pieces are unevenly colored as a result an area closer
to the fire becomes glossier than the rest. It's an imperfect look, with several
"wad marks" clearly visible where the pot was held during the firing.
However, Turner says that such markings are valued in Japan and Korea, and are
considered perfect in their unpretentiousness.

This fall, Turner will be one of
the first instructors to kick off Arts 2000, an innovative joint venture of BCC
and the Bellevue Art Museum. The program will bring classes and the actual
making of art into the museum, dusty ceramics studio and all. While he won't be
teaching wood-firing in Arts 2000 classes he will concentrate on the
"finer" arts of raku and high-fired pottery he does hope to turn
students and other Eastside’s on to the simpler beauty of woodfiring as well.

It
seems fitting that at this point in his career, Turner would take this more
natural approach to his art. "I want to reintroduce some human character
into my work," he says. Hopefully, local patrons and galleries such as
Kirkland's Anderson Glover Gallery, where he has previously exhibited, will
catch Turner's enthusiasm for his changing style.

Ken Turner
http://www.kenturnerpottery.com/Raku
Workshop PicturesKen Turner built these fiber raku kilns based on the original clamshell design
by John Harris and Mike Blackwell. His photos show how the upper parts of the
kilns fold down on either side to aid in loading and unloading, then fold
together vertically for firing. The kilns are also on large casters for ease of
transport. To enter the site, click on the pot with the gold lid, then scroll
down the left-hand menu for the link to "Raku firing." From there,
click on the small photo at the top of the page or scroll down the page and
click on "Raku Workshop Photos." Again, while you are at the site
you'll be tempted to check out Ken's many wonderful pieces, both handbuilt and
wheel thrown, with sophisticated combinations of "lava" glazes and
gold and silver lusters.